'Cruddy' by Lynda Barry is a dark and disturbing coming-of-age tale that follows the life of 16-year-old Roberta, also known as Clyde, as she recounts her troubled past. Kidnapped by her father at age 11, Roberta is taken on a violent and surreal road trip in search of her grandfather's hidden inheritance. The narrative alternates between Roberta's harrowing past and her drug-fueled teenage years, where she befriends outcasts and delves into a world of chaos and self-discovery. The book is described as a blend of horror, humor, and dark realism, with compelling characters and a unique storytelling style that keeps readers gripped until the end.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Notable triggers include high instances of murder, drug use, child abuse, and violence.
Has Romance?
While romance exists in Cruddy, particularly in Roberta's connection with Turtle, it serves more as a backdrop to the darker themes rather than the central focus.
From The Publisher:
On a September night in 1971, a few days after getting busted for dropping acid, a sixteen-year-old curls up in the corner of her ratty bedroom and begins to write.
Now the truth can finally be revealed about the mysterious day long ago when the authorities found a child, calmly walking in the boiling desert, covered with blood.
The girl is Roberta Rohbeson, and her rant against a world bounded by "the cruddy top bedroom of a cruddy rental house on a very cruddy mud road" soon becomes a detailed account of another story, one that she has kept silent since she was eleven.
Darkly funny and resonant with humanity, Cruddy, masterfully intertwines Roberta's stories - part Easy Rider and part bipolar Wizard of Oz. These stories, the backbone of Roberta's short life, include a one-way trip across America fueled by revenge and greed and a vivid cast of characters, starring Roberta's dangerous father, the owners of the Knocking Hammer Bar-cum-slaughterhouse, and runaway adolescents. With a teenager's eye for freakish detail and a nervous ability to make the most horrible scenes seem hilarious, Cruddy is a stunning achievement.
Ratings (3)
Incredible (1) | |
Loved It (1) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (3):
Read It (3) |
1 comment(s)
I didn't quite read the blurb to clearly before going into it. I thought it was more of a YA and it's definitely not. Would been extremely freaked out if I had read it in my teen years. Not sure why I liked it so much. A very strange book but yet an very interesting read
What can you read after
Cruddy?
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